KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- For the Kansas City Wizards, Wednesday night's penalty kick shootout victory against the Colorado Rapids in their U.S. Open Cup play-in match was typical of how their season has gone -- and how they would like it to end.
"It was a complicated win, but an important win nonetheless. I'm just thrilled we got it," said Ivan Trujillo via an interpreter.
The Wizards scored the first goal, fell behind, came back, lost a player to a red card, yet pulled out the win.
But it was a win -- actually, their second in a row, following their exhibition win against CSD Municipal of Guatemala last Saturday. However, an MLS regular season win is now needed to fully regain their momentum that stalled after their April 20 victory in Chicago. At the time, the Wizards had three wins and a draw in five matches. The next four games -- all on the road -- saw a dramatic dip in results with a solitary draw and three losses.
"We haven't reached the point where we're pushing the panic button at all," said midfielder Kerry Zavangin of K.C.'s sixth-place standing in the Eastern Conference. "There's a lot of soccer left to be played, and there are two cups still out there to play for. It's a matter of not getting too high or too low."
Although the attitude must be on an even keel, the bar is still set high for a team that is well stocked with talent.
"We're going to have our successes over the course of this year. It's a matter of getting better every day and continuing to push forward and putting ourselves in good position to have home-field advantage in the playoffs," Zavagnin said.
Just as Trujillo's 86th-minute goal brought the Wizards level with Colorado Wednesday night, a win this Saturday night at Real Salt Lake would bring them to .500 on the season.
And just as the season has had its roadblocks, so does a win on Saturday. Last season, the Wizards lost twice on the road to Real Salt Lake -- once in an Open Cup play-in match and once in the regular season. The match is, thankfully, the last of a six-game road stretch that hasn't been kind for the Wizards. Finally, Wednesday's win over 120-plus minutes did nothing to ease neither the fatigue nor the fitness of the roster.
Trujillo aggravated a sore heel that has been bothering him lately and key players Jimmy Conrad and Claudio Lopez, among others, went the distance on the FieldTurf at Shawnee Mission District Stadium, a surface they will see again in Salt Lake City Saturday.
But head coach Curt Onalfo's men have shown the ability to surmount hindrances.
"All along we've said we need to be a team that doesn't make excuses, and we find solutions. We've found solutions to the reasons why we've been less effective," said Onalfo.
The Wizards have scored two goals in each of their two wins, a substantial increase over their 0.67 goals per game in their last six league matches. Utilizing skilled players such as Lopez and Carlos Marinelli at wide midfield roles and pushing more numbers into attack has paid off. In addition, regular starters Marinelli and midfielder Sasha Victorine were rested Wednesday as they recover from slight injuries. Also, goalkeeper Kevin Hartman was given his second consecutive game off.
Yet the Wizards will have to avoid giving up the "soft" goals they surrendered to the Rapids on Wednesday. But in the end, it doesn't matter how the Wizards come out on top as much as that they do.
"It's a matter of capitalizing on our chances and being dangerous in front of the goal. We've shown that we've had moments in games where we played attractive soccer, but that doesn't mean much if you are not getting the results," said Zavagnin. "But right now, we'd rather win games than play pretty. It would be nice to have both, but right now, it's about winning."
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